Northern is absolutely right.
Everyone here is fast to judge. I wonder if anyone here has ever spent time
outdoors before with friends... or ever had fun before.

I picked up a
rock on a scout camp once and threw it into a lake. Technically I defaced the
land as it stood. Human existence technically defaces everything we touch to
some degree. So what is it about this that is different, because people like
certain rocks? Cause they are pretty? Unique? I have news for you. Everything on
this planet is unique. If you like it THAT much, put up a sign in front of every
last object that no one can touch, move, remove, etc. Otherwise, get over it.

Should I be scared to go camping now? I'll have to warn my wife not
to touch nature, trees, rocks, dirt, or water. I'm not sure I know a scout
who hasn't defaced something in nature, according to this standard
anyway.

No sign, no foul.

Liberalism at its best...
punishing people for being... people... normal... human... Holy cow!

NorthernLogan, UT

March 20, 2014 12:09 a.m.

Someday after 50k more laws are written all of you lynchers will be in the nuse
yourselves. So quick to condem others.

RationalSalt Lake City, UT

March 19, 2014 9:53 p.m.

These guys have not learned a thing. They are still selling the same old,
"We did this so no one would get hurt," lie. And they still want to be
involved in scouts? I hope no one ever has the poor judgment to put these
guys in charge of children or adolescents ever again. No one should ever
be responsible for people more mature than they themselves are.

Tolstoysalt lake, UT

March 19, 2014 5:32 p.m.

@inspector

Sorry but I am with Backtothebasics, there is no excuse
for this type of childish behavior.

BacktothebasicsSalt Lake City, UT

March 19, 2014 4:25 p.m.

@inspectorc,C'mon give me a break....really??? MANY of us would
consider doing what these guys did???? Not anyone I know. Unless you're of
the same "mind" as these two (question what was in their mind). It was
a dumb, thoughtless choice that they acted on, and now they are paying the
consequences. IMO, they got off easy. And what makes you the authority on what a
hoodoo is? Sounds like maybe you were there???

PhoenixAZphoenix, AZ

March 19, 2014 2:14 p.m.

Nice. Slap on the wrist.

InspectorCWasatch Front, UT

March 19, 2014 11:37 a.m.

The rock these guys shifted wasn't even actually a "hoodoo".

The definition of a hoodoo is: A pillar of rock, usually of fantastic
shape....OR: A strangely shaped column of rock.

This case
involved just a SINGLE boulder, sitting on a precarious ridge of dirt directly
over a hiking trail. It was NOT a "hoodoo" by any stretch of the
imagination or definition!

I'd bet good money that MANY of us
would at least consider doing the same thing these twerps did, in the name of
public safety. They just shouldn't have "celebrated" what they
did, like a group of grade-school boys... or posted video of it on YT! 8)

I'm glad these guys weren't penalized any more severely than
they were. They've been through enough already.

andyjaggyAmerican Fork, UT

March 19, 2014 10:46 a.m.

I didn't think they should go to jail, but I am very disappointed they
aren't being asked to do a couple hundred hours of trail maintenance in our
state parks.

Hopefully they at least have a life time ban from
scouts. I was lucky to have great scout leaders who taught and demonstrated
respect and love for nature, clearly the bar has been lowered these days.

hapticzPassaic, NJ

March 19, 2014 10:39 a.m.

send these infamous few out to do some true life saving task. repair some
stairs, decks, uneven sidewalks, or install hand rails in elderly homes for say,
1000 poor or truly needy families. they can rebuild their life. perhaps they
could dig a well (by hand) that supplies water power to a wheel, that generates
carbon free energy, stored by some means, thence used to reposition that silly
rock, for all the future to enjoy. (at least until mother nature give it a push
on her own).

i once knew a few a 'ski bums' that worked
near Aspen Colorado, they spent their idle snowless summer days hiking the
mountains seeking 'ready rollers' to tumble off the sides of really
steep treacherous mountainsides.

no fit in SGSt.George, Utah

March 19, 2014 10:14 a.m.

Oh, yes, I know those guys.They are the ones who went to the National Park
and destroyed the hoo doo years ago.Yea, I remember that well!

Johnny TriumphAmerican Fork, UT

March 19, 2014 10:00 a.m.

They did themselves in by celebrating the hoodoo falling. I'm glad this is
finally ending.

GaryOVirginia Beach, VA

March 19, 2014 9:36 a.m.

" . . . good men who made a mistake?" Of course they are. They
couldn't possibly be bad men who do something good once in a while.

After all, they were Boy Scout Leaders, and the Boy Scouts are a
Conservative organization.

These fearless leaders were just acting
out their Conservative ethic . . . as far as the land goes, use it, abuse it,
misuse it, exploit it, strip it, mutilate it, and lay it to waste . . . as long
as it's for a good Conservative cause, it's all right.

Obviously Conservationism and Conservatism are two very different things.

Strider303Salt Lake City, UT

March 19, 2014 9:04 a.m.

I don't agree with the plea in abeyance in this case, I think it should be
on their records. I sure hope BSA doesn't let them near a scout troop,
ever.

This should have been a wake-up call to LDS Church leaders to
require BSA Basic Training for all scout leaders, including bishopric to be sure
everyone is on the same page.

SG in SLCSalt Lake City, UT

March 19, 2014 8:55 a.m.

I think that the judicial outcome in this case is generally pretty appropriate.
I would like to have seen court-ordered community service included (something in
the range of 600-800 hours each; preferably with a requirement that the
community service be conservation-related), but I agree that incarceration
wasn't warranted for these first-time offenders who were primarily guilty
of criminal stupidity.

On the other hand, I don't think the BSA
should be lenient on them. People who are not committed to adhering to the
scouting program's conservation principles have no business being scout
leaders, and the negative publicity surrounding their actions has done serious
harm to the BSA. A 5-10 year ban on involvement in scouting would probably be
appropriate, in my opinion, and a lifetime ban wouldn't be totally out of
the question.

FlashbackKearns, UT

March 19, 2014 8:14 a.m.

What I'm laughing about is that Emory County is going to assess a dollar
value to that hoo doo that was knocked off. My guess that unless you knew which
hoo doo they knocked over, you'd never be able to find it in the park. Not
sure that there is any monitary value to said hoo doo. Just slap the two dudes
with a $10,000.00 fine each and use the money to improve the state park.

DEW CougarsSandy, UT

March 19, 2014 8:05 a.m.

The question here. Those two now know their mistake but will other ever know
what event happened? There will be more others doing some stupid things. How
will they know better?

JumpymanSalt Lake City, UT

March 19, 2014 12:43 a.m.

Ellcapitan,

It's good to know about your good old "breaking
jeep trails". As one who has seen the erosion caused by those good old
days, I can't say that I am proud of your accomplishments. It is because
of your jeep trails that we are now not allowed to access our own
taxpayer-funded public lands. Thank you for your great work.

WonderProvo, UT

March 18, 2014 11:57 p.m.

Elcapitan, you may long for the good old days when boys were boys and could
knock over hoodoos whenever the urge struck them, but I am glad they are now
being preserved for everyone to see. It's a selfish person who only thinks
of the fun they are having and doesn't realize that others may want to see
these amazing formations.

regisSalt Lake City, UT

March 18, 2014 11:47 p.m.

Everyone agrees these guys did a really stupid thing. And it's
understandable that a lot of people are angry about a unique natural formation
being defaced. But it's not quite on the level of blowing up Rainbow Bridge
or stopping Old Faithful from erupting.

They've suffered public
humiliation, and everyone has learned a good lesson. So let them pay their
fines, perform their public service, and get on with their lives.

ElcapitanIvins, UT

March 18, 2014 10:51 p.m.

Get over it guys, the modern state park people are not like sixty years ago.
Then he would have thanked you and given you some counsel. We visited there
often with our kids. I was glad to have been around Southern Utah breaking Jeep
trails in the good old days prior to these Modern Times.I live close to a state
park which is now over controlled and signed. What a mess they have made of it.